NTSB CAROL · Event
Event DCA16CA053
Registry · N475WN
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
BOEING 737-7H4
Year of manufacture
2004 · 11 years old at event
TCDS
A16WE · THE BOEING CO
Engine
CFM INTL. CFM56 SERIES (2200 hp)
Seats / Engines
143 seats · 2 engines
Last airworthiness date
20040731
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A5D5AE
Registrant of record
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
An inadvertent encounter with clear air turbulence.
Factual narrative
On December 23, 2015, at about 0130 eastern standard time, Southwest Airlines flight 834, a Boeing 737-700, N475WN, encountered clear air turbulence while descending for approach to Charlotte/Douglas Intl (KCLT), Charlotte, North Carolina. Of the 142 passengers and crewmembers onboard, one flight attendant received serious injuries and the airplane was not damaged. The flight was operating under 14 CFR Part 121 as a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Chicago Midway Intl (KMDW), Chicago, Illinois, to KCLT. At the time of the turbulence encounter, the "B" flight attendant (FA) was securing the galley for landing when she was thrown into the air and landed on the metal part of the galley. She was unable to stand back up on her own and required assistance from the other FAs. After landing the injured FA was transported to a local hospital upon arrival to KCLT where she was diagnosed with a broken foot On December 23, 2015, at about 00:30 central daylight time, Southwest Airlines flight 834, a Boeing 737-700, N475WN, encountered clear air turbulence while descending for approach to Charlotte/Douglas Intl (KCLT), Charlotte, North Carolina. Of the 142 passengers and crewmembers onboard, one flight attendant received serious injuries and the airplane was not damaged. The flight was operating under 14 CFR Part 121 as a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Chicago Midway Intl (KMDW), Chicago, Illinois, to KCLT. At the time of the turbulence encounter, the "B" flight attendant (FA) was securing the galley for landing when she was thrown into the air and landed on the metal part of the galley. She was unable to stand back up on her own and required assistance from the other FAs. After landing the injured FA was transported to a local hospital upon arrival to KCLT where she was diagnosed with a broken foot Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).
- C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Turbulence-Clear air turbulence-Effect on personnel - C
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2015_DCA16CA053.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (turbulence). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- arXiv 2026 · arXiv preprint
Direct Numerical Simulations of Ice-Ocean Boundary Turbulence
Turbulent heat and freshwater transport at ice-ocean interfaces controls glacier and iceberg melt rates, yet the underlying physics remains poorly constrained.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
Political Turbulence and Aviation Safety: A Cross-National Analysis of Political Stability's Effects on Aviation Accidents
To what extent does political stability affect aviation safety? This research aims to link domestic political conditions and public safety through the consideration of aviation accident frequency.
- arXiv 2025 · arXiv preprint
Explainable LiDAR 3D Point Cloud Segmentation and Clustering for Detecting Airplane-Generated Wind Turbulence
Wake vortices - strong, coherent air turbulences created by aircraft - pose a significant risk to aviation safety and therefore require accurate and reliable detection methods.
- arXiv 2024 · arXiv preprint
Does small-scale turbulence matter for ice growth in mixed-phase clouds?
Representing the glaciation of mixed-phase clouds in terms of the Wegener-Bergeron-Findeisen process is a challenge for many weather and climate models, which tend to overestimate this process because…
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Effects of electrostatic interaction on clustering and collision of bidispersed inertial particles in homogeneous and isotropic turbulence
In sandstorms and thunderclouds, turbulence-induced collisions between solid particles and ice crystals lead to inevitable triboelectrification.
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2023 · SKYbrary article
Wake Vortex Turbulence — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary wake vortex turbulence comprehensive article — generation mechanics, dissipation factors, separation standards (ICAO LIGHT/MEDIUM/HEAVY/SUPER + recategorisation RECAT-EU).
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗